Following a pre-Christmas plea to help stock the shelves at Sources’ food bank, staff and volunteers are no longer walking freely through the facility’s aisles.

They’re stepping around stacks of canned goods, shimmying their way through passageways and even sharing their lunch room with boxes upon boxes of non-perishables.

It’s a good problem to have.

“It’s amazing,” said operations manager Jaye Murray. “This is what it’s supposed to be like.”

Last month, Murray was among Sources’ officials worried about how the facility would continue to meet the needs of the hundreds of people who rely on the goods that are distributed at the 5-15515 24 Ave. site every week.

Donations typically seen over the holiday season – and relied on to carry them through the next six months – were distinctly lacking.

Friday, Murray described the influx of donations that followed Peace Arch News’ Dec. 18 front-page article as “fantastic.” People arrived with donations by the box-load “right up to the 24th (of December),” she said.

“The volunteers had to work overtime. It was just like a flood at the last minute… it just kept pouring in.”

Murray said the weight of donations exceeded that seen in December 2011 significantly – 79,000 pounds compared to 66,000.

“We’ve got a pretty generous community.”

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